Abstract
Ten inpatients at the Second Department of Internal Medicine, Mie University Hospital, developed infections in the course of treatment for hematopoietic disorders and were administered cefoxitin (CFX). Patients suffered from the following infections: pharyngitis, 2; bronchitis, 2; pneumonia, 2; sepsis, 2; bacteremia, 1; suspected cases of bacteremia, 2; and fever of unknown origin, 1. The number of infections totaled 12 as 1 patient with pharyngitis also developed sepsis and 1 patient with pneumonia developed bacteremia.
Duration for the administration of CFX ranged between 5 and 18 days with a total dosage of between 30 and 108g. Of the 10 patients treated with CFX, 9 were treated concomitantly with micronomicin (MCR), doxycycline (DOXY), or sulbenicillin (SBPC), some were treated concomitantly with only 1 of the drugs and some were treated concomitantly with 2 of the drugs.
The following clinical results were obtained:
1. Following treatment, 4 patients were considered excellent, 5, good, and 3, poor. Clinical efficacy rate was 75%.
2. Four strains of Gram-positive cocci (1 strain of S. aureus, 2 strains of S. epidermidis and 1 strain of Streptococcus sp.) and 3 strains of Gram-negative rods (2 strains of P. aeruginosa and 1 strain of E. cloacae) were found in the clinical specimens of the 10 patients. These results differed somewhat from reported data that Gram-negative rods such as E. coli, Kkbsiella sp., Pseudomonas sp., Serratia sp., are dominant.
3. No serious side effects requiring cessation of treatment were observed. Elevations in the levels of S-GOT, S-GPT, serum alkaline phosphatase, blood urea nitrogen, etc. were observed. However, these elevated levels were not thought to be caused by CFX alone since CFX was administered concomitantly with MCR, DOXY or SBPC. Abnormalities noted in laboratory tests might have been due to anticancer drugs and/or blood transfusions.
4. Clinical results indicate that CFX is a very effective antibiotic for the treatment of infections complicated by hematopoietic disorders since CFX has a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity against Grampositive and Gram-negative pathogens.
